Photo Album
by Sacarver
Summary: In which a single gift can spur on a lifetime of pure, solid, deep, love. SLASH. Oneshot. Complete. RLSB. Slight MMDM. Hinted JPLE.


"I'm sorry, Mr. Lupin, I didn't hear that last part."

"I- I just said chocolate.. and books, sir."

A faint pink blush dared to creep up Remus's neck as he listened to Professor Slughorn's final words on their lesson. He glanced to his partner on his right: Dorcas Meadowes, a sixth-year girl in Gryffindor, one of Lily's close friends. She closed her small ink well and brushed her hair over her shoulder.

"Ah, great..." she muttered. Dorcas looked down at her hand briefly, which had a bit of ink on it. "Got ink in my hair..."

Remus grinned faintly. "Nobody'll notice, your hair's almost the same shade of black," he noted. She blinked at him.

"Oh, yeah."

The dismissal bell rang right then, and the entire Gryffindor sixth-year class immediately stood up and crowded to the doors in an almost synchronised fashion. Remus, standing a good five inches taller than most of his classmates, scanned the crowd to see his four best friends meeting up with him.

James pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and tried to stand next to Lily. She glanced at him with mild disdain, but with a hidden grin in her eyes that James was too oblivious to notice.

Peter, the poor boy, was trying to weave his way through the crowd in a futile manner. Most of the others probably didn't notice or were preoccupied.

Sirius popped up to Remus's right, smirking. "Hey, Moony," he said. "You trailed off," he reminded his friend.

Remus looked down at the shorter, raven-haired boy. "What d'you mean-? Oh- oh, then... yeah, I guess so," he shrugged, obviously trying to avoid the conversation. Especially here with everyone. And especially with the one person he didn't want to share it with. Sirius Black.

"Aw, c'mon," he shoved Remus's arm playfully, which sent an involuntary, slight chill up his arm. "We all know what that means, you fancy someone that's in this class." Hearing the topic of conversation, James turned and decided to join in.

"What? Moony likes someone in the class? Why didn't you tell me?" James looked at Remus, who was actually nearing his height, incredulously.

Remus shook his head as the pack walked out of the classroom. "No, I don't-"

What a sight the group made. There were four boys and three girls, all mingled together clad in scarlet and gold robes. Three jet-black haired, one chocolate brown, two sandy blond, and lastly one fiery redhead.

Sirius interrupted Remus. "You do, and you have to tell us! See, you're blushing- you fancy someone. It's oughta be one in our year, you got all flustered when you tried to identify the last scent." Remus opened his mouth to object, but Sirius cut him off again. "Moony, you're a terrible liar. Now, c'mon, just tell us who it is!"

Remus bit his lip and looked at Sirius- probably a bit too long, but he apparently didn't notice.

"At least a hint? Is it one of them?" James asked, pointing his thumb to Lily, Dorcas, and Marlene, who were talking animatedly and obviously not paying attention to the other boys. "Because if it's Evans, you're gonna have a tough time-"

Remus laughed. "No, Prongs, it's not Lils." James grinned; his girl was safe. "And I'm not gonna say if it's one of those girls, or any girl, or any guy," he stated firmly.

"Well, okay, then... what do they look like? Are they as gorgeous as me?" Sirius added half-sarcastically. Remus grinned; of course they were. Sirius was asking if he was as hot as himself. But, Remus definitely was not going to say what he was thinking- instead, he resorted to answering vaguely.

"I'd say so," he mused. "They're... relatively smaller in stature," he said with a smirk. "And they've got longer black hair."

James racked his brain, trying to think of a match. So did Sirius. Merlin, they were so oblivious. Finally, James gasped.

"You fancy Meadowes, don't you?" Remus cursed himself internally. He'd forgotten that both Dorcas and Sirius were shorter than average and had straight black hair. Great. Now they were going to try and set them up. Well, it wouldn't work out as Dorcas had confided to Lily and Remus that she and Marlene were secretly together, and had been since fourth year, but nobody knew. He was surprised; they had been quite good at keeping the secret.

"No, it's not her, she's already dating-" he stopped himself, not wanting to tell their secret. "she's already dating someone else. She told me."

The rest of the journey to the common room, James and Sirius nagged Remus about Dorcas. He tried to answer truthfully, but they just kept believing Dorcas was the apple to his eye, when in all reality, they were further from the truth.

**x x x x**

"Can't believe it... Dorcas... of all people..." he muttered with an edge of bitterness in his voice, pacing by his four-poster bed. He kicked some trash out of the way.

James caught a deactivated Snitch in his hand, fixing himself on his own bed. "Pads, mate, really, I think you need to just sit down," he said. "For real, it's just Dorcas. She wouldn't hurt him, even if they were dating. And, it could be someone else entirely. Moony didn't say they were in Gryffindor."

Sirius flicked his slate grey eyes quickly at James. "Yeah, but he refused to mention it in class earlier when we were brewing Amortentia, the most powerful love potion!" he snapped, flopping down lazily onto his bed that faced James's.

James shrugged. "I- I'm sorry, but- I dunno what to tell you, mate-"

"I just..." Sirius sighed. "I just thought... maybe.. there was a chance. Just a chance. That my best friend would fancy a guy- or, like, his best friend who fancied him since they were thirteen," he murmured with a note of despondence. "Guess not."

**x x x x**

"Pads!"

Sirius stopped and looked over his shoulder. Why would Remus be calling him? He should've been on his way to Arithmancy. Well- they did cross paths when the rest moved on to a free period and Remus to Arithmancy. But class was about to start, why wouldn't Remus be in there?

He looked around Remus. Nobody else was with him. "Yeah, Moony?" Sirius tentatively stepped a little ways to meet up with Remus.

"I- I know that it's early, and all, but- I wanted to give you this without everybody else being around. I can't find a time when you're not with James, so..." Remus shrugged a little awkwardly, holding a package. It wasn't wrapped, but Sirius assumed if he meant for it to be in private he wouldn't need to wrap it.

"I- I'd rather not want people in the halls or whatever- d'you wanna look at it over there?" Remus motioned to an empty, unused classroom ahead of him. "Dunno why, really... just feels weird out in the halls, where anyone could just walk up,"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, that's fine." Remus was always more of the private type, not wanting everyone knowing about too much stuff about him. Sirius wanted to respect his privacy and went along with whatever Remus suggested- they usually weren't the worst ideas, unless he was in a more mischievous mood...

Remus left the door ajar, allowing light to enter the medium sized classroom. Sirius leaned against one side of the stone wall casually, Remus a little ways in front of him.

"Here," Remus placed the square-shaped thing in Sirius's hands

"Thanks, Moons," he murmured, meeting Remus's eyes for a split second. Sirius looked at the item in his hands. It was rectangular. It looked like-

"Moons- did you get me next year's spell book?" Sirius chuckled, and Remus grinned a little.

"No- I didn't. Just look inside," he waved his hand as to usher Sirius on.

Sirius carefully looked through what he now saw was a photo album. Of all his happiest moments, of moments he enjoyed, of significant times. It started with his meeting Remus, James, and Peter. Then his sorting to Gryffindor. It went through his entire life, the pictures taken almost magically. It was divided by year; the first two and a half were mainly Sirius and James, and Remus and Peter were in a good deal too. But James was in almost every one.

Then third year. Less and less of James- still there abundantly, but not every picture. More and more of Remus. Sirius looked at the photos carefully; how did Remus get these? Half the time, there was nobody else there, and Remus didn't have a camera, either.

Remus studied Sirius's face carefully. Merlin, he was adorable. The way he carefully examined every page as if he wouldn't see it again. Sirius flicked to the back; it was empty.

"How- how did you make this?" Sirius asked Remus quietly, tearing his eyes from the album, meeting Remus's olive green.

"Just some spells," he shrugged. "It basically figures out what you would consider a moment to remember, and it forms a picture on the page of a frame of the moment." Remus grinned. The spell had taken ages to figure out, but Remus was more than happy with the results. "Flip to the last filled page," he suggested.

Sirius flipped back to about halfway in the book, in the section marked "Sixth Year, 1976." Only a few pictures were there; it was almost Christmas, so they hadn't been at school for too long. The last page with marking on it was blank; the top only said in neat print: 'December 17, 1976.'

Then the ink started to flow.

In a perfect square, colors appeared onto the page and flowed into their respective places. After a few seconds, a perfect snapshot was on the page, with a midnight-black haired boy staring at something in his hands, a brunette grinning at him. There was something in Remus's face; what was it? Sirius couldn't tell what emotion was held in his face, but it was familiar.

"D'you like it?"

Sirius tilted his head up, staring at Remus.

"D'you like the album?" Remus repeated quietly.

Sirius chuckled incredulously. "Do I like it? Of- of course, Moons," he said, looking back down at the book in his hands. "Of course I do," he repeated quieter. "I love you-"

He froze.

"It..." Sirius stared at the pages, heart hammering against his chest. "I love it," he murmured, barely audible.

Remus blinked. He was totally confused and thrown off his thought process. "Y- you- did you say-"

Sirius cut him off shortly. "I love you, Moons, okay? Yes, that's what I accidentally said, and I'm not going to deny it," he said angrily.

A slight pause.

"...but, I'm sorry..." he faintly murmured. He began again, a little louder, "If that's gonna- like- mess up our friendship or whatever, I- I'm sorry- I can't- I can't help falling in love with you," he said, his voice growing back to its faint whisper again. Somewhere in the mix Sirius had put the album down on the floor for some reason.

Remus stared at Sirius in shock. He took a step closer, hands in his pockets, and leaned down a little. "You love me?" he said in a low, quiet voice. Sirius didn't respond; he just stared at Remus, who had somehow inched closer to himself.

Remus's face broke into a sort of half-smirk, something dancing in his eyes. He leaned forward almost to Sirius's height, his face barely four or five inches from the other's. "Yeah?" he murmured, his deep voice to a whisper now, his lips barely parted but just enough to notice, still bearing that stupid little half-grin.

He edged as close as he dared. Sirius's breath hitched slightly, their faces no more than an inch apart. At this, Remus's smirk grew fully; he involuntarily licked his lips slightly (he hadn't even realised it until later), which sent Sirius from staring between his mouth and his eyes.

Remus continued to bear that same smirk, moving even closer. Sirius crossed his arms over his chest and tried to back up nervously, but to only back up further onto the wall. Remus put his hand on the wall next to Sirius, ever so slightly messing with his hair. Sirius's silver eyes darted around Remus's olive, searching for something.

Sirius's breath hitched again. "Moons- wh- what are you-" he stammered breathlessly, sure his chest was about to break from the pounding of his heart.

He stopped mid-sentence. Remus traced his delicate finger down Sirius's jawline, tilting his face up slightly at the chin to meet his own. Sirius's eyes had fluttered shut, his arms fallen to his side.

Remus moved his face to Sirius's ear. "What am I doing?" he whispered quietly. His lips just barely brushed the side of Sirius's face, causing a soft whimper to escape from the back of Sirius's throat.

Remus turned his face back to meet Sirius's, wanting to take in whatever he could. "You like this, hm?" His other hand that was against the cold stone wall trickled slowly down the side of Sirius's neck, sending chills down his side. Another small whine.

Sirius's eyes opened barely to meet Remus's. He found his hands wrapped up in tight handfuls of Remus's robes. "Please, Moons- just kiss me-" he begged.

Remus bent down even closer. His lips passed barely over Sirius's cheekbone as he replied back, "Oh, but this is much more fun."

The hand on Sirius's neck traced slowly down to the collar of Sirius's robes. He tugged ever so slightly at the red and gold tie around Sirius's neck, loosening it a little. Then he dropped his hand to his chest and felt the rate at which Sirius's heart was beating. Remus was sure his was the same, if not close.

Remus's hand on Sirius's jawline slid up to his cheek slowly. His thumb traced lightly over Sirius's lips almost as if it was taunting him. Sirius could hardly breathe. He felt Remus's warm breath on his other cheek.

In revenge, Sirius wrapped his arms carefully around Remus's waist. His arms were under the outer layer of the robes, and he played with the hem of Remus's sweater between his fingers.

Remus's thumb had just reached the corner of Sirius's mouth when it was his turn for his breath to catch as Sirius's hand touched skin. Sirius smirked.

"Mm, but you've forgotten, Moons," he hummed. "Two can play at that game."

He slid his hands a little ways under Remus's sweater, sending chills down his spine. Sirius traced his hand across scars delicately.

Remus stood wrapped around Sirius, thinking quickly but carefully. How badly he wanted to just get the agony over with and snog him senseless. But he forced himself to linger. Sirius had been ever so oblivious to his not-so-secret hints, and Remus wanted to play on his terms. And if they had, this'd have happened at least a year or two ago.

Sirius took this moment Remus accidentally gave him to stand up on his toes, reaching roughly the same height (almost) of Remus. He moved a hand to behind his neck, right near his hair, pulling him closer.

Remus's face was close to the side of Sirius's head. Quietly, he said, "Not if I make the rules."

Sirius brought his other hand up, a loose fist resting on Remus's chest. He took his closer hand and forced Remus to look at him. "Who said you were?"

"Me."

Remus pushed Sirius back against the wall by the front of his shirt. His forehead lay on the other's, their faces barely apart. Remus desperately wanted to kiss him. But he wasn't ready to give Sirius that total satisfaction yet.

He slid down to about his jawline, his lips running feather-light miniscule kisses down his neck. In return, Sirius pulled himself up, playfully nipping at a part of his neck right under the ear. Remus froze slowly, unable to avoid his main goal hardly any longer.

Sirius smirked. He laid his head against the wall to meet Remus's eyes. Sirius grabbed the collar of Remus's dark grey sweater to pull him closer until they were literally right on each other. "You sure about that, you making the rules and all?"

Remus kept his tight grip on the front of Sirius's shirt. "Mhm."

"Ready to kiss me now?"

Remus didn't respond. Instead, he smashed his lips roughly onto Sirius's. He grinned into the kiss, pulling Remus as close as he could to close the gap between them- which, granted, was probably half an inch or so. Instantly a wave of relief flooded both of them. But they still craved more. Each other.

Remus's tongue flicked at Sirius's lips. He parted the gap immediately. They fought futilely for dominance, because, obviously, Remus won.

After what felt like eternity, Remus pulled away, his lips barely touching Sirius's, their eyes still closed. Eventually, his eyes fluttered open a little, just to see Sirius doing the same. Sirius pulled in and kissed him again. This time, it was soft. Slow. A real, pure, innocent kiss. Sirius broke away after a little less time than last; of course the classes were out _now,_ right at the good part. Voices could be heard off in the distance as the final bell rang. He planted one last quick kiss on Remus's lips.

Remus smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Pads."


End file.
